Reviews

Teaching and Researching Translation

B. Hatim

Pearson Education 2001, 254 pp., £15.99

isbn 0 582 32899 3

In Teaching and Researching Translation, BasilHatim, Professor of Translation and Linguistics atHeriot-Watt University of Edinburgh, Scotland, andat the American University of Sharjah, United ArabEmirates, o¤ers a critical account of what has beenhappening in the theory and practice of translationand interpreting. Although he clearly states thatlinguistics is capable of informing the study oftranslation, he also claims that ‘linguistics is notmonolithic and a variety of models must berecognized, each designed to achieve certain goalsand not necessarily others. By the same token,translation studies has not remained a prisonerwithin one paradigm: di¤erent perspectives havesystematically been adopted and di¤erentapproaches have been invoked to shed new light ona constantly evolving subject’. (p. 80)

Hatim also introduces his readers, students,translators, and teachers of translation, to theintricacies of the process, and the diverse demandsof the profession, his main aim being to encouragethem to reflect upon and re-examine the practicesin which they are engaged.

The book is divided into four major sections.Section I comprises six chapters concerned withthe historical and conceptual background totranslation studies, and with key issues intranslation research.

In Chapter 1, ‘Translation studies and appliedlinguistics’, the application of linguistics totranslating and translations is analysed, togetherwith the idea that practitioner/action research is anideal methodology with which to study translation.

In Chapter 2, ‘From linguistic systems to cultures incontact’, Professor Hatim describes how translationequivalence has been handled within the linguistics

paradigm, concentrating on Catford’s formallinguistic theory and Nida’s social linguistic model.In Chapter 3, ‘Equivalence: pragmatic and textualcriteria’, he discusses Koller’s equivalenceframeworks, Gutt’s relevance model, and deBeaugrande´s text-linguistic approach to translation.As we read on, Hatim shows the reader how theconcept of equivalence becomes wider and moreflexible under the banner of cultural studies. To thispurpose, in Chapter 4 he resorts to Venuti’s conceptsof foreignization and domestication, and to Pym’sassessment on translator invisibility research. Afterstating the di¤erence between Deconstruction, NewCriticism, and Hermeneutics, Professor Hatim refersto Pym’s assessment of Deconstruction as a generaltheory of translation. Feminist theory is presentedfollowing von Flotow’s own work on the subject,together with a contrastive view: Arrojo’s criticism offeminist practices in translation. In Chapter 5, ‘Fromword to text and beyond’, Hatim briefly reviewsJames Holmes’ seminal ideas on translation asproduct, process, and function, and describes thework carried out within the variety of cultural studies,presenting translation as ‘a force which has shapedculture and history and as an act of re-writingundertaken in the light of a dominant ideology andpoetics’ (p. 56). In Chapter 6, ‘Literary and culturalconstraints’, the implications of Polysystem Theoryare discussed, especially as regards the notion oftranslation ‘norms’, which underpins the target–textorientation promoted by this descriptive theory. Atthe end of this tour of translation studies, theGerman functionalist Skopostheorie is described andassessed.

Professor Hatim’s care not to impose his ownviews on the reader is to be applauded. Although hesubscribes to a semiotic perspective ontranslation—as shown in his previous works—Discourse and the Translator (1990), and TheTranslator as Communicator (1997), written incollaboration with Ian Mason, and CommunicationAcross Cultures (1997)—this book o¤ers acomplete, well-balanced, and objective overview oftranslation paradigms ranging from linguistic,

ELT Journal Volume 57/1 January 2003 © Oxford University Press 77

pragmatic, and semiotic, to cultural frameworks.Its most outstanding features, together withHatim’s own assessment on each theory, includethe introduction of the latest developments to befound in, for example, deconstruction and feministstudies. Throughout the whole of this work,Professor Hatim moves from practice to theory andresearch, and back to practice, putting forward theidea that practitioner/action research is an idealmethodology for translation studies, which is,undoubtedly, an interdisciplinary endeavour.

Section II includes Chapters 7–13, and focuses onhow the perspectives outlined in the previoussection have yielded operational frameworks forresearch. In Chapter 7, ‘Register-oriented researchmodels’, the notions of semantic vs.communicative, documentary vs. instrumental, andcovert vs. overt translation strategies arecontrasted. In Chapter 8, the notion of translationstrategy is described from the perspective ofpragmatics and the theory of relevance.Communicative clues, that is, Gutt’s textual featuresperceived to be particularly significant for theintended meaning and the way in which they haveinfluenced translation practice, are also analysed indetail. In Chapter 9, ‘Focus on the text’, discourse-oriented research into translation strategy isdescribed, especially as text processing, the processof translation, and the genre-text-discourse triad isconcerned. Chapter 10, ‘Translation and Ideology’,deals with cultural studies, and concentrates on theideology of translation, highlighting the commoninterest in discourse shared by text-linguisticmodels of translation, and models subscribing tothe cultural paradigm on both sides of the Atlantic.Within this last perspective, the feminist frameworkis discussed and assessed. Chapter 11 contrasts thetranslation of genre with the notion of translation asgenre, and also looks more closely into the issue oftranslation ‘norms’ as seen by Toury and Nord.Chapter 12 describes empirical research issues suchas ‘translation universals’ undertaken with corpustranslation (Baker), and reports on research into thetranslation process which has focused on what goeson in the translator’s mind (Konigs and Fraser). Thelast chapter of this section is very useful for teacherssince it introduces models of research intotranslation didactics, assessing evidence related tothe feasibility of translation into the foreignlanguage (Admiral, Newmark, and Campbell),translation errors (Pym, Hatim, and Mason), andthe status of the text in translation teaching(Emery), also looking in some detail at curriculumdesign, where a number of syllabi in translationtraining are examined.

Throughout this section, then, the various lines ofenquiry are scrutinized showing their advantagesand disadvantages from the point of view of theirrelevance to further research within a wide range ofmodels: normative, psychological, empirical,ideology-based, etc.

In Section III, action-research is taken up again,and the potential of the previous methods toaddress a range of practical concerns is examinedin 14 di¤erent research projects: the translation ofideology, contrastive textology, cross-culturalpragmatics, relevance, text types, cultures incontact, politics and poetics, and discoursemanipulation, are some of the areas suggested.The aim, methodology, and evaluation of possibleresults are considered for each of these projects.

Section IV provides important links and resourcesfor the translator, a glossary of terms, very usefulinternet links, and an extensive list of citedreferences.

Professor Hatim, a highly respected authority in thesubject, has produced a well-informed, well-organized study, and a thoroughly up-to-datecoverage of theories and practice-related researchthat can be used as self-study, or adopted forseminar courses. His book—neatly divided intoobjective-oriented chapters, with ingeniously-designed boxes presenting quotations andconcepts—fully succeeds in highlighting theinteresting possibilities raised by practice, or posedby the latest theoretical explorations. In a word,Teaching and Researching Translation is an inspiringand edifying work that urges us to perfecttranslation, whether we consider it to be an art, acraft, a theoretical discipline, or a science.

ReferencesHatim, B. and I. Mason. 1990. Discourse and theTranslator. London: Longman.Hatim, B. and I. Mason. 1997. The Translator asCommunicator. London and New York: Routledge.Hatim B. 1997. Communication Across Cultures.Exeter: Exeter University Press.

The reviewersVirginia López Grisolia teaches English Grammarand Linguistics at the Instituto Superior delProfesorado ‘J. V. González’. She has been lecturingon Business English Language and Methodologyfor the last 12 years. She has worked as aninterpreter in the Argentine President´s privateoªce for two years.Email: v.lopezgrisolia@rmo.com.ar

78 Reviews

María Cristina Pinto teaches Theory of Translation atthe University of Belgrano, and Literary Translationat the IES en Lenguas Vivas ‘J. R. Fernández’. She isalso Head of the Translation Department at theENS en Lenguas Vivas ‘J. F. Kennedy’, and currentPresident of the Argentine Association ofTranslators and Interpreters ( AATI).Email: transmc@arnet.com.ar

Literacy and Language Teaching

R. Kern

Oxford University Press 2000, 358 pp., £19.25

isbn 0 19 442162 7

I think I only fully realized the true scope and aim ofthis book in the last chapter. In a modest table,Kern summarizes language teaching approachesaccording to their emphasis: structural emphasis,communicative emphasis, and literacy emphasis. Itthus becomes apparent that the approachpresented is intended as a further step in ourthinking about language teaching, taking what weconveniently call the communicative approach,transforming it and supplanting it with a literacy-based approach. Kern’s approach is based on theviews put forward by the New London Group (socalled because their joint publication began duringa week’s discussion in 1994 in New London, NewHampshire), whose work has influenced EAPpractices, but is probably not well known withingeneral EFL. Indeed, Kern acknowledges that this isthe case, and a quick straw poll among a number ofELT professionals confirmed this. For me, too, theview of literacy presented, and the terms used, werenot very familiar. This volume thus provides theimportant service of introducing this work to a newconstituency. Because this is work that will be newto many readers of this journal, I provide below alonger than usual summary of the book and thetheories it presents, followed by my owncomments, in an attempt to understand what it isthat Kern is saying, and the implications of his view.

In the first part of the book, Kern lays down thetheoretical foundations for his views. Chapter 1,Notions of literacy, presents his definition of literacy,which is worth quoting in full:

Literacy is the use of socially-, historically-, andculturally-situated practices of creating andinterpreting meaning through texts. It entails atleast a tacit awareness of the relationshipsbetween textual conventions and their contexts

of use and, ideally, the ability to reflect criticallyon those relationships. Because it is purpose-sensitive, literacy is dynamic—not static—andvariable across and within discoursecommunities and cultures. It draws on a widerange of cognitive abilities, on knowledge ofwritten and spoken language, on knowledge ofgenres, and on cultural knowledge. (p. 3)

Kern then articulates seven principles arising fromthis definition, phrased in terms of what literacyinvolves: it involves interpretation; collaboration(between writer and reader); conventions; culturalknowledge; problem solving; reflection (and self-reflection); and it involves language use. Kern seesthese principles as the linkage between literacy andcommunication, and he then traces the historicalchanges in language teaching from focus onlanguage usage to focus on use, and the rise ofcommunicative approaches. He then traces themove toward literacy-based approaches, andexamines the various linguistic, cognitive, andsociocultural dimensions of literacy.

Chapter 2, Communication, literacy, and languagelearning, presents the shift from metaphors ofcommunication as a conduit, or as a container, tothe main metaphor of this volume, namely themetaphor of communication as designing meaning(New London Group 1996). The starting point inthis metaphorical conceptualization of meaningmaking is that of Available Designs, i.e. theresources available for meaning making, which areused in the act of Designing—i.e. the act ofproducing or interpreting texts. This leads to whatis called ‘the Redesigned’—the resources whichhave been reproduced or transformed by the act ofdesigning. These in turn become new AvailableDesigns, and what has been produced ortransformed is now a new resource for acts ofmeaning making. The Available Designs at thedisposal of any person (vocabulary, grammar,writing system, procedural knowledge, etc.) aresituated within the immediate communicativecontext, as well as the eventual context (e.g.audience, social roles, purpose). This in itself issituated within a larger sociocultural context, whichincludes the sociocultural contexts of the homecommunity, of the classroom, and of the targetcommunity. Chapter 3, Available Designs in Literacy,then examines linguistic resources (writingsystems, grammar, vocabulary, cohesion, andcoherence) and schematic resources (formalschemata, rhetorical organization patterns, genres,styles, content schemata, and stories).

Reviews 79